Chief Operating Officer

Democracy Prep educates responsible citizen-scholars for success in the college of their choice AND for lives of active citizenship. In close partnership with families, we empower young people with the skills and values to flourish as community leaders who will strengthen our American democracy and change the world! Democracy Prep Public Schools (DPPS) is a tuition-free high performing public charter school network operating in New York, NY, San Antonio, TX and Las Vegas, NV educating over 5,500 students, preK-12th grade, on 17 campuses. DPPS is in the process of executing a five-year Strategic Plan to govern its growth, quality assurance, staffing, and sustainability. In the strategic plan, DPPS is building on past successes, ensuring strong academic outcomes at each of our 17 schools and a special education program, Pathways, as well as growing responsibly in existing regions. Our scholars are current advocates, future voters, and blossoming leaders in their communities.

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) plays a dual role as the primary operational leader for the multi-state organization and a key strategic support to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). At DPPS, the COO is responsible for all operational functions across Democracy Prep's growing network of high-performing charter schools. The COO ensures that all operational functions-student recruitment and enrollment, school operations, meals, transportation, procurement, student information systems, compliance and reporting, safety, facilities management, securing new real estate and executing school openings, closings, and mergers-is performed with excellence, so that student learning can flourish everywhere. The COO is also responsible for managing the brand and image of Democracy Prep, leading national development efforts and overseeing strategic initiatives toward Democracy Prep's mission. The COO serves as the liaison between the CEO, DPPS Board of Directors, and the Senior Leadership Team. The COO has a bird's eye view of the organization across teams and departments and is central to advising, planning and influencing outcomes for the organization. The COO is both a leader within the organization as well as the key administrator who also handles detailed work such as scheduling, preparing agendas, and handling individual personnel issues.

Who You Are

• An educator with an unwavering commitment to the Democracy Prep mission of college success and authentic civic engagement for our scholars.

• A self-reflective and self-aware teammate who is dedicated to aligning their work to Democracy Prep's commitment to antiracism and who is eager to use these skills to contribute to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• A dynamic and visionary leader with significant operational experience to drive the operational strategy and systems for a national K-12 charter management organization.

• A self-starter who is creative and entrepreneurial with 10-15 years of experience in and a track record of success in charter management organization (CMO) or school district leadership.

• An excellent manager and team leader with a track record of leading teams in diverse functional areas.

• An excellent systems leader with:

• strong process and detail orientation, including experience designing complex and scalable systems/processes from scratch and improving upon existing ones,

• ability to define strategic issues clearly despite ambiguity, provide sound recommendations, and take all critical information into account when making timely, tough decisions,

• ability to reflect on school-facing systems using varied data from diverse sources, challenging the status quo when necessary,

• ability to manage through layers and ensure strong management and team culture through multiple levels of management.

• A strong relationship builder with excellent interpersonal skills, a proven ability to work collaboratively across teams, and an ability to develop and maintain long-term, productive relationships internally and externally.

• A leader with a deep belief in engaging families in school communities in meaningful ways, knowing that family involvement and investment is key to maintaining a thriving school system.

• A professional that is highly responsive to and thinks critically about feedback and works to implement change in the right ways at the right time.

• An excellent writer and skilled orator who can take information from many sources, distill it to core messages, and effectively tailor that communication to multiple stakeholders in a variety of situations.

• A professional with proven experience in a business management role, human resources and executive-level advising.

What You'll Do

Network Leadership, Executive Team Participation & Direct Support of the CEO

• Consult directly with the CEO and other executive teammates to ensure the long term viability of our organization.

• Act as a key thought partner to the CEO, brainstorming and identifying solutions to organizational challenges.

• Serve as a trusted partner to the CEO and other executive team leaders solving the most complex issues that face the organization.

• Ensure fiscal responsibility for all budgets in the purview of the COO Teams.

• Serve as strategic partner to the CEO in strategic review and analysis of all network budgets.

• Continuously drive improvements and innovation as it relates to all departments in the purview of the COO.

• Cultivate key partnerships in each region, in partnership with the Regional Superintendent, that drive interest and enrollment in our schools.

• Work with the CEO and senior leadership to set strategic priorities for the organization and further employee wellness and company culture.

• Oversee preparation and planning for the Board of Directors, support the CEO in managing interactions with the board co-chairs and four committee leaders.

• Assist the CEO in onboarding new board members, monitoring term lengths and attendance and maintaining the Board of Directors handbook.

• Plan senior leadership and high-level operations meetings, professional development and all-staff retreats, developing objectives and agendas, coordinating with support staff in the Office of the CEO on logistics.

• In partnership with the Chief People Officer and Deputy Chief of Staff, lead annual manager, leader and CMO training and development.

• Provide communications support in drafting reports, presentations, pitches, board newsletters, and staff communications on behalf of the CEO

• Attend in-person executive and leadership meetings as assigned.

• Oversee the Office of the CEO staff.

• Perform other related duties as assigned, including participation in network-wide or department specific initiatives and/or projects.

Strategic Planning and Alignment:

• Lead the strategic management process for the organization, in partnership with the CEO, by acting as a project manager and ensuring alignment with the CEO and senior leadership.

• Serve as key project manager for the DPPS Strategic Plan, in partnership with the Deputy Chief of Staff.

• Assist in oversight of large, often cross-functional, organization-wide projects or initiatives, bringing together important stakeholders and helping to drive decision-making.

• Help determine key performance indicators and lead structures for executive leaders to update progress on their key performance indicators on a regular and routine cadence.

Development, Enrollment, Marketing & Communications Leadership

• Ensure the implementation of a best-in-class enrollment and student retention program across all Democracy Prep regions and Schools.

• Oversee the design and implement a marketing & communications/storytelling strategy for the organization, including internal and external communications to all stakeholders.

• Serve as the "protector" of the Democracy Prep brand, including reviewing and approving all external communications and marketing materials.

• Oversee all public relations and marketing contracts and relationships, including enrollment and talent acquisition-focused vendors.

• Oversee the creation of a comprehensive development plan for raising philanthropic contributions to meet annual fundraising targets.

• Oversee the strategy for a portfolio of annual, major, and principal gift prospects. Develop and manage a portfolio of 50+ high figure prospects and develop customized cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship plans for each.

• Support the Director(s) of Development to build relationships with Regional Superintendents and philanthropy targets in each locale in order to aid in hitting or exceeding the fundraising target in each region and support their fundraising efforts by writing local grant applicants for the regions and DPPS.

• Support the Director(s) of Development to develop board fundraising activation plans to engage board members in fundraising. Form and maintain strong partnerships with select board members and members of board development committees to support their fundraising efforts in our regions.

• Collaborate with the Chief Executive Officer and the Director(s) of Development on the management of high-capacity donors, including support for meeting preparation and follow-up with these key donors.

Growth, Operations & Infrastructure Leadership

• Drive excellence across all operational functions including student recruitment and enrollment, school operations, meals, transportation, procurement, student information systems, compliance and reporting, safety, facilities management, securing new real estate and executing school openings, closings, and mergers.

• Lead the design and implementation of systems, processes and services that support Democracy Prep schools and programs in delivering best-in-class educational outcomes.

• Manage School-CMO relations and operational systems so that the network is using seamless and transparent systems, protocols, calendars.

• Ensure operational strategies are translated into specific objectives and plans (with contingencies); integrate and align efforts across functions, locations; set realistic yet aggressive timeframes for achieving key objectives.

• Oversee launches of new school sites.

• Continue to refine and build a sustainable, scalable, cost-efficient operational infrastructure that supports Democracy Prep's continued growth.

• Responsible for all facilities management and planning, lease and licensing agreements, hazardous materials management, security systems, capital improvement, maintenance and repair service, energy management, refuse collection and disposal, and recycling programs

• Develops and organizes ongoing, long range, and preventive maintenance plans and programs for sites, buildings and equipment, including grounds keeping, transportation, and custodial services.

• Negotiates contracts as appropriate; reviews billings and contract terms with contractors, vendors, etc.; confers with legal counsel as-needed.

• Manages, oversees and coordinates Project Managers, Construction Managers, Contractors, and Consultants during the planning, construction, and closeout phases of site construction projects or modernization.

• Make recommendations for organizational structure to foster a healthy, unified culture among central office staff and school sites, ensuring all team members feel valued, supported and inspired.

• Incorporate a strong customer service orientation into all aspects of CMO and school operations.

• Perform other related duties as assigned, including participation in network-wide or department specific initiatives and/or projects.

Qualifications

• A graduate of a Bachelor's degree program (required), Master's degree in related field (preferred).

• Operations experience or leadership within a school-based setting or high-functioning social sector organization strongly preferred.

Compensation

Salary range is $215,000-$245,000, commensurate with your experience. Democracy Prep employees are provided with a benefits package that includes medical, vision, and dental insurance, 403B matching, and parental leave.

Democracy Prep is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, domestic violence victim status, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. Our mission is to educate responsible citizen-scholars who will change the world. We strongly believe that by building a DREAM team that represents numerous perspectives, backgrounds, and expertise, we can achieve this goal together. This is a value we highly support and strongly encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.